That’s a Long Time to Spend in the Corner

Google has been sentenced to endure twenty years of “regular, independent privacy audits,” after plastering everybody’s personal stuff pretty much everywhere with its Buzz service last year.

There’s a good reason I don’t use Gmail and I don’t use Hotmail — and instead am very happy to spend $149 a year for Apple’s MobileMe family pack. When a service is free, you are the thing being bought and sold — your private email and surfing habits, that is. I’d rather pay a little money and keep my privacy, thanks.